They have a day-to-day responsibility for the operation of our SEN policy and coordination of specific provision made to support individual pupils with SEN, including those who have EHC (Educational Health Care) plans. They provide professional guidance to colleagues and will work closely with staff, parents and other agencies. They are aware of the provision in the Local Offer and work with professionals providing a support role to families to ensure that our pupils with SEN receive appropriate support and high quality teaching.

Children have special educational needs if they have difficulties in one or more of the following areas, and need support that is different from and additional to that provided for other children:

Communication and interaction

– this includes children with speech language and communication needs (SLCN) and those with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) including Asperger’s Syndrome.

Cognition and learning

– this includes children with moderate learning difficulties (MLD), severe learning difficulties (SLD) and profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD). This also includes children with specific learning difficulties (SpLD) such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.

Social, emotional and mental health difficulties

– social, emotional and mental health difficulties may manifest themselves in many ways including becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. Other children may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder.

Harbour Primary is a Quality Lead School for Achievement for All and our Headteacher has been an Ambassador for AFA.

Achievement for All is an independent, not-for-profit charity that transforms the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged children, young people and their families by raising educational aspirations, access and achievement.

They work in partnership with parents and carers, teachers, leaders and professionals from across the education, health, voluntary, public and private sectors, to support Early Years settings and schools to close the gap for children with SEN by increasing opportunities and support so that all can succeed.

Mrs Chaplin meets termly with our Achievement Coach to set clear objectives related to pupil outcomes which are monitored closely. We host a number of visitors from across the country to share our good practice in SEN.

Harbour Primary has achieved the Communication Friendly Status

We achieved this award by demonstrating increased competence and success in the following outcomes;

High quality inclusive practice for children with language and communication needs, including Autism.

Effective use of Language Link from Reception to Year 4 to track children’s progress in receptive language

Expanded teaching and support staff training programme to include training in Narrative Therapy, Makaton and Communicate in Print

Increased opportunities for speech, language, communication and social interaction during break and lunch times

Evaluated and monitored quality first teaching of talk and the consistency of curriculum planning for differentiated speaking and listening objectives

Developed parents/careers understanding of and confidence in the school’s approach to SLCN.

Harbour Primary is a Dyslexia friendly school.

Dyslexia is a difficulty with words and particularly sounds in words. This leads to slow progress in reading and writing, and can affect maths, number work and other areas of life.

Early recognition is important, so that we can help before your child becomes frustrated by his or her difficulties.

Children with dyslexia come from all backgrounds and abilities. They can often be creative and successful in particular areas of work and have many strengths.

We employ a Reading Specialist Teacher full time, and two members of staff have a Dyslexia Teaching Diploma.

Harbour Primary has a Key Stage 1 Nurture Class

“Nurture groups explicitly recognise that severely adverse early experiences affect every aspect of development and that they underlie much educational failure in mainstream schools. Such experiences leave social, emotional and intellectual deficits which nurture groups have demonstrated can be made good, that educational progress, in the widest sense, can be fostered.” (M Boxall)

Nurture Classes are small groups of children within a mainstream primary school, supported by staff and parents alike. The groups are ideally staffed by a teacher and a teaching assistant who model a solid working relationship. Children are collected from their base classes after registration and spend quality time in the Nurture Room for a significant part of their days, before transitioning back to their classes.

The rationale being that these children may have missed out on early experiences that promote good development and/or present with attachment difficulties. The role of the adults is to gain some understanding of their gaps, to meet the children at the stage they have reached, to offer emotional acceptance and focused teaching.

Our Nurture Class is led by Miss Maria Angelakis (Teacher) who has a Nurture Qualification, and she is upported by a teaching assistant.

Nuuture Class Key Principles;

Children’s learning is understood developmentally.

Language is a vital means of communication.

The Nurture Room offers a safe base.

All behaviour is communication.

The importance of nurture for the development of self-esteem.

The importance of transition in children’s lives.

Harbour Primary works in partnership with the Speech and Language Facilities at Peacehaven Heights School.

We recognise that a number of children have speech and language needs and provide significant support for these children. Additional support from Peacehaven Heights Facilities is integrated in to our school, and speech and language groups are led by specialist support staff. Along with our Havens School Cluster- we have jointly appointed a Speech and Lamgauge Therapist to support in our school.

At Harbour Primary staff hold Makaton Speak and Sign qualifications.

We use Makaton to support comprehension and understanding. With Makaton, staff speak and sign and we use the software Communicate in Print to further extend our work in this area.

Harbour Primary was a National SEN Pathfinder School trialing personal budgets and EHC Plans

East Sussex County Council was a pathfinder authority and our school worked as a pathfinder school. We aimed to :

support the design of better, more transparent, less adversarial systems

improve the way local services and agencies share information and work together

develop a streamlined assessment process and a single education, health and care plan for children and young people from birth to the age of 25

provide support to families through key working

provide greater transparency and choice through exploring the use of personal budgets and direct payments

develop a ‘local offer' which sets out the services and support available

improve families' and young people's experiences of the support system at key transition times

improve support to vulnerable children and young people.

Mrs Chaplin still works closely with the Local Authority, supporting on assessment panels and supporting CPD.